IT'S TRUE, SEA DOGS WIN NUMBER 22

STATION NATION POST-GAME
FINAL: Sea Dogs 6, Titan 4

BATHURST – They almost blew a big lead, but they didn’t blow the game. The Saint John Sea Dogs downed the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 6-4 in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre on Saturday night.

With the win, Saint John picks up an unbelievable twenty-second straight victory and keeps them third all-time in the Canadian Hockey League.

The Sea Dogs almost spoiled a 3-0 lead in the first period but hung on for the victory. Michael Kirkpatrick scored a hat trick for the winners along with singles from Nicholas Petersen, Gabriel Bourret, and Mike Thomas. The Titan replied with goals from Jeremie Blain, Danick Malouin, Taylor Lambke, and Patrick Jones.

It was a wild and whacky first period of hockey at the K.C. Irving Regional Centre.

Just 42 seconds into the game, Nicholas Petersen potted his twentieth goal of the season to put the Port City up 1-0. Mike Hoffman’s sharp angle pass caused a scramble in front and allowed Petersen to tuck it home.

22 seconds later the Sea Dogs made it 2-0 as Michael Kirkpatrick responded on a Yann Sauve rebound. The goal caused Titan head coach Ron Choules to call a timeout to try and get the Titan’s heads in the game.

The short break didn’t solve any of their defensive problems as Mike Thomas redirected Kevin Gagne’s shot to make it 3-0 for the visitors only 1:59 into the game. The goal chased Nicholas Champion from the goal after allowing three goals on five shots.

Nicholas Pard almost made it 4-0 minutes later after a three-on-two was executed nicely with Hoffman, Pard, and Steven Anthony. Guillaume Nadeau stood tall and made the chest save.

Bathurst finally got some life after Remi Blanchard ringed a shot off the outside of the post. The Titan connected at 6:09 when Danick Malouin scored off his brother Jeremie’s rebound.

Stephen MacAulay gave a nice cross ice pass to Thomas but hit the side of the net with the cage wide open. Vincent Arseneau and Tomas Jurco collided and caused Arseneau to go to the bench but did return later on in the period.

The Titan began to make things interesting as Patrick Jones scored from a bad angle that somehow fooled Karel St. Laurent. The goal at 8:51 made it 3-2 Sea Dogs.

At 10:28 Mike Thomas went to the box followed shortly by Jonathan Huberdeau and gave the Titan a 61 second two man advantage. St. Laurent made a great stop off of Titan leading scorer Eric Faille on the P.K.

With only a few seconds left in the opening frame, Faille’s shot hit something and landed in the crease. Nathan Beaulieu made a great play to sweep the puck right off the goal line to keep the Sea Dogs’ lead.

Bathurst outshot Saint John 15-13 in the first period.

At 2:12 of the second period the Sea Dogs made it 4-2. Gabriel Bourret wired a shot from the left point and went by a screened Nadeau for his second goal of the year. The Titan didn’t like the goal as they thought the play was offside. Ron Choules, of course, lost his mind.

At 3:41 Zach Phillips picked up a double minor for high sticking. The league’s fourth worst penalty kill looked like the best as the Sea Dogs did a terrific job. The Titan’s best chance came off the stick of Patrick Jones but was stopped by St. Laurent.

With Vincent Couture in the sin bin, Hoffman fed Petersen the puck who was behind the defense. Petersen went in alone but was stoned by Nadeau. Then a turnover in front gave Petersen a good chance followed by Hoffman’s shot being tipped wide.

Jeremie Malouin took down Stanislav Galiev at 12:12 to give Saint John a power play. Kirkpatrick wound up and fired a bullet by Nadeau to give the Dogs a 5-2 lead heading into the dressing room.

Saint John outshot Bathurst 16-5 in the middle frame.

Nicholas Champion came back in net for the Titan to start the third period. He was tested early on a Thomas point shot that produced a juicy rebound for Pierre Durepos but couldn’t connect.

Eric Faille almost kept his point scoring streak going as he sent a shot between the legs of St. Laurent but hit the left post.

Saint John made it 6-2 at 5:20 thanks to Kirkpatrick’s hat trick goal. The trick is the third of Kirkpatrick’s QMJHL career.

Tomas Jurco took a tripping penalty at 6:14. Just eight second in Taylor Lambke beat St. Laurent to make it 6-3. The Sea Dog goaltender was furious, saying that he was interfered with but no call or review took place.

Cameron Critchlow ran over St. Laurent shortly after the goal. He lay on the ice for several minutes with Sea Dogs athletic therapist Jeff Kelly. Marc-Antoine Gelinas had his mask on on the bench but the 18-year-old stayed in the game.

Gerard Gallant and the rest of the Sea Dogs coaching staff were not too happy at 8:16. Jones threw his stick at Kirkpatrick and knocked the puck off his stick in frustration. No call was made only to have Kirkpatrick go to the box for slashing.

The officials call allowed Jeremie Blain’s point shot to go off St. Laurent’s glove and in at 10:08 to make it 6-4. Faille got an assist on the goal giving him at least a point in 15 straight games. After the goal, the rough stuff began.

It appeared Danick Gauthier and Olivier Malka were going to drop the gloves at 18:18 but chose not to. Thomas and Danick Malouin decided to go at it with both players getting some good right hand shots in. They were eventually separated after they stopped due to exhaustion.

Then after the final buzzer, Nicholas Pard and Jonathan Lessard got into it. Both players got some good punches in before they – and there teams – were escorted off the ice. The K.C.I. reigned down in boo’s towards the league’s top team as they skated off.

Saint John won the shots on goal battle in the third period, outshooting the Titan 16-12.

Karel St. Laurent improved to 10-2-0 on the season and made 28 saves on the night. Saint John went 1/7 on the power play.

Guillaume Nadeau takes the loss and falls to 4-8-0 on the year. He made 22 saves while Nicholas Champion stopped 17 shots. Bathurst went 2/7 on the power play.

NOTES: See Station Nation tomorrow for Sea Dogs Post-Game Notebook.

NEXT GAME: Brunswick News Rivalry Cup Game Three: Saint John Sea Dogs vs Moncton Wildcats. Sunday, December 13, 2009, at 4:00 pm at Moncton Coliseum.